“Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”
-John 7:24

There’s something about words that are so life giving or so heart rending. Words can be so healing or so injurious, especially if you love someone and they say something about you that is hard not to perceive as part of your identity.

It’s hard not to pay attention to what people say about you, especially if it’s bad stuff. And it’s so easy to forget the good stuff, isn’t it? It’s so easy. If a hundred people say a hundred good things about my sermon and one person says one bad thing about my sermon, guess whose comment I remember? You don’t have to guess.

Don’t believe any of it unless it’s what I’m saying right now, which is that you’re not defined by what others say about you, but you are defined by what God says. He says that you’re his beloved.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, you tell me that I am your beloved. Oh, how my heart swells to know how much you love me. Amen.

REFLECTION: Have you ever been wounded by criticism? How has God’s love helped to heal your wound?